Trying to Sell a 2/2 in Lakeview 10 Years Later: 1525 W. George
There’s been lots of chatter that, of course, sellers are losing money if they bought in the last 5 years but homeowners who bought 10 years or more ago should be fine.
This 2 bedroom unit at 1525 W. George last sold in July 2001.
At 1200 square feet, it has diagonal hardwood floors in the main living areas.
It has a wood burning fireplace and a master suite with shower/tub combo.
The kitchen has black appliances and stone counter tops.
There is central air, in-unit washer/dryer and deeded parking along with a back deck.
It is currently listed for $32,000 over the 2001 purchase price.
What will be the outcome for this seller 10 years later?
Bob Kinsloe at Portola Real Estate has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1200 square feet
- Sold in November 1995 for $200,000
- Sold in September 1999 (no price listed)
- Sold in June 2001 for $338,000
- Originally listed in January 2011 for $370,000
- Currently still listed for $370,000
- Assessments of $88 a month
- Taxes of $5343
- Central Air
- In-unit Washer/Dryer
- Garage space included
- Bedroom #1: 12×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×10
Bleh.
built 1995.
I’d still like some architectural historian to identify which property was the very first ever cinderblock mccrapbox. Do a study on how well it’s held up over 15 years.
We weren’t out of the last RE recession and the S&L crisis until about 1994, so this is first generation for sure.
The kitchen’s layout both in terms of its orientation with respect to the living room and the position of appliances (specially the stove top) is way off.
What exactly is “high end” about that kitchen? It’s 16 years old now. That’s like having a high end VCR.
i have no clue if this is priced too high or priced right.
all i know is i would never pay 370k for this 2/2
why oh why were people buying these things and why are they still buying them?
Looks like the building is leaning in the photo.
IMO the bedrooms are too small and nothing else that stands out means this place is overpriced at $370k.
$260k refi in 2008 and completely vacant today.
My speech to seller: You have room to lower the price. Just sell already. Lower the price $5,000 every 10 days to generate interest. When it gets low enough someone will place an offer. I’m sorry but you’re going to have to accept that you will not make any real estate profit on your sale even after 10 years. I’m sorry, I know it’s hard to deal with but you are losing money every month leaving it vacant.
I’ll give props to the realtor on this one though. Separate full website for the property, many photos that can give a feel of what the place looks and lives like. Not for me but at least they aren’t asking 400+ to start off with.
What is the point of those windows when there’s a cinder block wall you could probably reach out and touch? I’d rather have the wall space for a piece of art…
Agreed with Wicker, the Realtor is really doing a great job here.
“homeowners who bought 10 years or more ago should be fine.”
so 2013 is my year 😀
hah I made an offer on this exact place at 275k over 2 years ago and got laughed at by the realtor
@HD, without knowing the exact circumstances, you could be correct. However, it is also possible that they’ve rented this place out for a while and just happen to be between tennants and decided that while the place was empty, they would try to sell it.
I don’t know the comps for this area, but assuming they priced it right — its only been a month — there is no reason they settle for less if they can get more. Can they get $370K? probably not.
Maybe they have a pricing strategy where if they don’t get an offer by such and such a date, they will slash the price and if no takers, re-rent it.
actually wait, no it was unit #3 on the top floor, not this one…
Good location close to shopping center on Ashland anchored by the mega Jewel. Sort of single family ish for a condo but you do have the new age church down the street. It is a little awkward living in a condo next to 1.5M+ McMansions built in 2005 with double lots. Good school district but who cares for a condo. These are commodities all over the city, and tend to be priced as such. Census data says +12% population gain from 2000 to 2010, which is at the top of Lake View (save the development on the metra tracks) so there must be some reason people live there.
“hah I made an offer on this exact place at 275k over 2 years ago and got laughed at by the realtor
***
actually wait, no it was unit #3 on the top floor, not this one…”
#3 sold for $528,500 in January 2006 — hasn’t sold since then from what I can tell.
yeah jon, I believe they took it off the market
HD, they do appear to have a “pricing strategy” that consists of a price change about every 2 weeks:
1/13/2011 NEW $370,000
1/19/2011 ACTV $370,000
2/2/2011 PCHG $369,999
2/8/2011 ACTV $369,999
2/13/2011 PCHG $370,000
2/19/2011 ACTV $370,000
Ha, love that “strategy.” I automatically avoid properties where they are trying to pull crap like this. Burley (which I think is where that condo is without looking it up) is a good school but this is too far from transit to be worth $370k in that neighborhood for that property even with Burley, and how many small 2/2 buyers have school-aged kids anyway?
“My speech to seller: You have room to lower the price. Just sell already. Lower the price $5,000 every 10 days to generate interest. When it gets low enough someone will place an offer. I’m sorry but you’re going to have to accept that you will not make any real estate profit on your sale even after 10 years. I’m sorry, I know it’s hard to deal with but you are losing money every month leaving it vacant.”
HD this owner still thinks they’re a baller and is assuming they will use their equity and profit from this sale to trade up to a bigger property.
This is not a lemming who bought a McCrapBox but rather a Big City RE Baller. LMAO.
At least they are willing to budge on price as demonstrated by their dollar drop and then subsequent raise. Heh.
“how many small 2/2 buyers have school-aged kids anyway”
Buyers, basically zero. Existing stuck owners, very few, but apparently the few that do exist post here with some regularity and all seem to have an infatuation with ELP. Most others realize they can and do have better options either with SFHs in less expensive parts of the city or in the suburbs.
“and all seem to have an infatuation with ELP. Most others realize they can and do have better options either with SFHs in less expensive parts of the city or in the suburbs.”
I would love to learn about those “better options” in less expensive parts of the city.
Less expensive, yes. But better? If one defines the quality of a home primarly by space/condition/finishes, and secondarily by location, then yes, there are obviously better options out there.
If and when I find myself saying, “gosh, I’d gladly, or even reluctantly, trade my little two bed that’s a block from the park for a big three bed with a “basement-family-room-for-a-huge-t.v.-on-which-to-watch-other-people-play-sports” in a neighborhood from which I’ll need to drive to the lakefront/park, I’ll have two options: (1) move into a small house in need of work on the east side of one of the north shore burbs (assuming there are any left from the tear-down era and, yes, face the scorn of all those mean rich folks) or (2) move elsewhere in the country.
I second annoy, please explain to us what you mean.
anonny has a spiritual connection with the lake, a motionless body of water whose only tangible effects seem to be adverse and weather related.
I understand people wanting and paying for ocean views on the coasts, but I don’t think I quite get some Chicagoans fascination with lake views.
Oh wow its the lake! There it is–it’s still there! It’s motionless and blue!
Again I am with Annony. I love the lake. The two biggest assets of the city are the lake and the architecture.
Plus there’s Lincoln Elementary, Zoo, and the Park (lots of Lincolns). So with a rugrat you can push your stroller around w/o need of using the car. Perhaps even swing by Treasure Island to pick up dinner on the way back home. Lots of kids.
When you then get the nanny/babysitter, same area also gives you nightlife. During week it is easy to get to downtown. I see the value of LP/Old Town, though I’m not yet sold that I want to pay the premium others have put on it to live there.
I can’t see a buyer paying more than $315 for this place with it’s soul sucking character.
“I would love to learn about those “better options” in less expensive parts of the city. ”
anonny,
dude we went over this before, there are many hoods in the city that give you the same thing you got, minus the lake and zoo and 100% walkablity, for 1/16 of the cost of living where your at.
and most give you *better schools and better park programs.
the lake and the zoo and the walkability is your thang and preference which is why LP is your perfect fit. but not everyone prioritizes the same way as you so there are many “better” and way cheaper options out there just not for you. (well Sloop might be *YOUR* cheaper option)
anonny, just rethinking it why didnt you consider the sloop?
People who aren’t from here are obsessed somehow with the lake. But ask them how many times he has been on a boat on the lake, swimming laps off Oak Street, or on a kayak or any sort of watersports. Typically zero. Meanwhile a SFH costs $3M in ELP while 1/2 mile north (also near lake) you can get a quality home for 1/3 to 1/5 of that. Talk about a bubble.
anonny goes kayaking and spots water tornadoes. he may get more out of the lake than just about everybody.
people say “it’s not like it’s an ocean” but how is it that different? you cant see the other side. there are nice sized waves most days. it’s colder than most oceans I’ve been in but otherwise I dont see a ton of difference. that’s a big one though. cant really stay in the water for too long until august.
Well, I’m from here and love the lakefront (and know many, many people with the same profile). Agree about the overblown price disparity between Lincoln Park (the neighborhood) and Lincoln Park (the park), though.
The lakefront is a nice place to visit, which I do often, but I wouldn’t want to live there…unless I buy that four square in Uptown we saw here a few weeks ago and renovate it. 😀
“Typically zero. Meanwhile a SFH costs $3M in ELP while 1/2 mile north (also near lake) you can get a quality home for 1/3 to 1/5 of that. Talk about a bubble.”
I actually prefer the south part of chicago’s lake front.
i dont live by the lake but i am on boat (love that song/joke) once a month. not always lake michigan either. I love the water and see why people want to be near it but i love having money to spend more.
“it’s colder than most oceans I’ve been in but otherwise I dont see a ton of difference”
Fresh water?
umm i think you need quotes around the word “fresh”
sure. but does that impact the typical day at the beach?
“sure. but does that impact the typical day at the beach?”
In my opinion, yes. The smell of salt water in the air and the buoyancy are different. The waves are also very different on a lake, which are non existant to choppy. Lakes do not generate swells as their waves (with rare exceptions such as a seiche) are dictated by wind over fetch. You don’t have sunny mostly calm days with huge waves because of this.
I don’t know anyone who would confuse Mavericks with North Avenue beach.
the lake is much bluer here and very asthetic compared to the ocean on the northern seaboard, I mean you’d have to go as far south as Georgia or Florida to get that kind of blueness (and then you’d have to live in florida or georgia, yuck!)… the Atlantic is a gross green/brown color
the pacific too, in spots is kinda nasty, but overall much bluer than the atlantic
“I don’t know anyone who would confuse Mavericks with North Avenue beach.”
That’s true. But it’s funny you should mention Mavericks. I recall posting something on here just after the holidays, in one of the countless sub-debates as whether immediate proximity to the park/lakefront is worth the cost, traffic (that one’s for you Groove), etc. associated with places like ELP. I had just returned from a few days near Half Moon Bay, and expressed how fortunate I felt to be able to wake up in ELP the morning after my return from such a splendid coastal environment. Waking up and walking about fifty feet from my door to access the park/lakefront environment (even in January) made the transition tolerable.
Bland, ugly McPoop. Ohioans love these places.
“Ohioans love these places.”
Only if there’s a Starbucks nearby.
“I don’t know anyone who would confuse Mavericks with North Avenue beach.”
True, but I’ve been to plenty of ocean beaches that I are pretty similar. except for the gang warfare.
There’s a McDonalds right across the street on ashland where “Ohio Types” can go get a good cup of coffee
Half moon bay sucks. There is a reason the real estate market there never took off. You never see the sun.
Oh great – our resident “expert” on Northern California has returned…
“Oh great – our resident “expert” on Northern California has returned…”
I thought you lived in Atherton, not HMB. Got some property there, too, that you want to unload?
No – but I don’t own in HMB – but I won’t pretend to know anything about it (unlike our “resident expert”)
“There’s a McDonalds right across the street on ashland where “Ohio Types” can go get a good cup of coffee”
The neighborhood itself is very convenient. Sure you have all the fast food places but you also have an enormous Jewel (considered by many to be the top velocity store in the city — which is important insofar as selection is top in the area), a post office, a discount liquor store, Costo is a short drive, as are the Elston cooridor shops. La Gondola blows doors off the vast majority of “authentic italian” in Chicago. Reasonably proximate to the highway and the El isn’t so far its unwalkable and you cannot hear it. Good school district in case you stay in the condo longer than expected. Southport cooridor nightlife is as good or better than ELP and its only a few blocks up.
I’d gladly pay 2/3 the price of a crappy LP condo for this one. Just a question of what the crappy LP condo price is in this market. Chicago real estate has really heading downhill over the fall and winter, most of which is directly attributable to the tax and fiscal policy of state and local agencies serving it.
“No – but I don’t own in HMB – but I won’t pretend to know anything about it (unlike our “resident expert”)”
Easy enough to google up that HMB is mainly cloudy in the winter and mainly foggy in the summer, thus really cutting into sunny days.
We did some financing on the Ritz Carlton managed property there, that is my experience and it is about 10 years old. You get to know an area pretty well when you finance a project that significant.
CH… Open your window at night and listen… Therein lies one of the bigger differences for me. Sleep like a baby next to the ocean.
Short of that being near the lake was a starter/non-starter for me. Facing the lake i thought was way overated. Ill take city/architecture view over.
“Open your window at night and listen… Therein lies one of the bigger differences for me. Sleep like a baby next to the ocean”
yeah – you can achieve the same thing with an ambien…..
“There’s a McDonalds right across the street on ashland where “Ohio Types” can go get a good cup of coffee”
Sonies the Ohioans who move to Chicago who buy places like this believe themselves to be culturally sophisticated (even if not financially), or at least more refined than the Ohioans they left behind. You’d better make that an Applebees.*
*Although the Emperor Wok might provide them with the sophistication their advanced palette so craves. “Ohh this Kung Pao chicken is delicious and exotic!”
clio… I don’t touch the prescription stuff ever.
I would have added the bikinis but if i remember chicago well that is not a pretty thought.
Funny part is i had to make that exact choice down here between the 2 and i picked the lake.
Let me get this straight: “Half Moon Bay sucks,” but the area around 1525 W. George is fairly attractive, given the “enormous Jewel …a post office, a discount liquor store, Costo is a short drive, as are the Elston cooridor shops. La Gondola blows doors off the vast majority of “authentic italian” in Chicago. Reasonably proximate to the highway and the El isn’t so far its unwalkable and you cannot hear it.”
Alas, if only there were a Costco, not to mention all those sweet places along Elston, in Half Moon Bay (which essentially serves as a locational shorthand for, and arguably encompasses everything from, Pacifica down to Pescadero, at least when speaking of it elsewhere in the country, e.g., on a real estate blog with a bunch of people in the Chicago area). Of course, HWY 1 could never hold a candle to the granduer of the Kennedy Expressway. And, well, it goes without saying that being able to walk to El is…wait, no, I’m not even going to try and articulate the feelings inspired by the mere mention of the wonderous El.
You can have both. But have to pay dearly for it.
“Funny part is i had to make that exact choice down here between the 2 and i picked the lake.”
roma.. That would be a really big building to have both.
“saying that being able to walk to El is…wait, no, I’m not even going to try and articulate the feelings inspired by the mere mention of the wonderous El.”
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780812979916.html
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–Salon.com
The book & website is the definitive guide to green zone white people.
oh actually i was just thinking of being close to both.
for views, you can have both, just need the right angle. actually, plenty of very cheap RE (along with some very expensive RE) that has beautiful views of both lagoon and ocean.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nosdamontanha/12637965/
roma… I remember the first time i moved to chicago. I rented a high floor SE corner at 10 E ontario. Horrendous building with absolutely no window insullation but this was before anything was south of it and before northwestern hospital got built. My clock that year was the wrigley bldg and the view south and east were unobstructed. It was stunning. Gotta be VERY careful in Chicago when buying a view.
roma i wrote thinking u mistook me for talkong about lake or skyline. Surprised. In reality i have great views of the ocean also but am not ON the ocean. As for anything cheap and particularly on the ocean or lake Absolutely NOTHING. Unless of course u go up into the favelas which i am expecting them to go all Cabrini Green on shortly.
yeah I know all about the convenience of the area JMM, I used to live right around this area, but 370k is a bit much for a bland 2/2 in a nice neighborhood where it takes a good 40 minutes to an hour to get to the loop via public transit, but I can see why people like the area.
“Half moon bay sucks. There is a reason the real estate market there never took off. You never see the sun.”
I agree with JMM! It’s awful. Fogged in and cold all the time except like 2 months out of the year. There’s a reason they hold that fog festival down there. I had a friend who lived there (when I worked in Silicon Valley) and the drive over the mountain every day was tedious (especially in bad weather.) But her house was 40% cheaper than the valley (for a reason.) There are a few fun restaurants near the water. I would go when the weather WAS nice (those 2 months out of the year.)
Emperor’s Wok! It’s awesome 1970s Chinese. They have a wide delivery range for anyone who wants to try it out.
O.K. Are people on here SERIOUSLY knocking the weather in the S.F. Bay Area (specifically, the general vicinity of Half Moon Bay)??? From Chicago???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????
Perhaps it’s time I pull a Clio and take my leave. Apparently the sages of CC have it all figured out: (i) ELP is an over-priced wasteland of suckers and (ii) the Bay Area sucks, mainly because of the weather. To think, if only all the over-educated, affluent morons in ELP and the Bay Area knew about this divine wisdom…they could all move to [insert random area on the fringe of the GZ or western Chicago burbs]. Then they could all be in on the joke! Ah yes, they could finally chortle at all the chumps who pay a premium to live among a region’s premium environmental amenities!
“O.K. Are people on here SERIOUSLY knocking the weather in the S.F. Bay Area (specifically, the general vicinity of Half Moon Bay)??? From Chicago???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????”
Yes. I hated the weather IN San Francisco proper (it was better on the peninsula or in the east bay- simply because the fog burned off earlier and it got hotter there.) The rain we had all day here on Sunday? That cold, biting, raw rain? That is winter in SF except those rain storms sometimes last for days. And the heating in most apartments/homes sucks. It was the first place I bought a down comforter and still wore socks to bed.
Summer isn’t much better. The fog keeps it cold so no shorts or skirts or fun summer dresses. In 3 out of the 4 Augusts I lived in the city I had to wear my winter coat for a week straight because the fog was so bad and the wind chill was in the 30s! Yay for summer! Oh- and forget the fourth of july fireworks. People wear winter coats to that too. Good times.
I hated it. I’ll take the hot, muggy Chicago summers over it any day of the week. Although I do have to say, the summers are better, again, in the east bay or down on the peninsula. Or even in wine country. But you’re not living in “the city” then. You’re simply in the suburbs.
Oh- and I also missed summer thunderstorms something fierce. I met someone from Kansas once and the first thing he said to me was, “you know what I miss the most? Lightning and thunder.” Oh yeah.
The weather in Atherton was AWESOME – it was the non-existent nightlife that sucked!!
Clio- Atherton IS the suburbs. What did you expect? What I loved most were the people who moved to Silicon Valley from NYC and thought they were moving someplace hip and cool.
Um…no. There is the dairy queen and the KFC. Welcome.
They all ended up leaving within a year because they couldn’t stand it and were bored out of their minds.
“They all ended up leaving within a year because they couldn’t stand it and were bored out of their minds.”
I lasted a little over a year… it was the worst year of my life. Good God – why the heck would anyone pay that kind of money to live in one of the most boring places on earth!!! The drive to SF was 45minutes (on a good day). Good riddance – I will never go back
BTW, I was at a wedding in Ritz at HMB and it was so damn sad and ugly. I felt so bad for the bride and groom getting married there. Horrible food, ugly cheap looking place and I think the suite costed $600 a night. The only nice thing was the ocean view but nothing else. I cannot fathom for life of mine why would any one get married in a tree less, landscape less Golf course in a hotel that has no architecture for so much money.
“think the suite costed $600 a night.”
Well miuimui I feel bad for your English teacher.
“a tree less, landscape less Golf course”
You realize that that is how golf was invented, right? On the treeless, landscape-less dunes of Scotland?